Letters: Gun owners need to embrace responsibilities

Published 6:56 pm, Thursday, January 23, 2014

Thank you for your editorial in Wednesday's paper ("Too many souls `shaken and rocked' "). Your recognition of an urgent need for reducing gun violence "starting with common sense" was underscored by the story on the facing page of a fatal shooting at Purdue University.

Much as been made of "gun owners' rights," everywhere from NRA news conferences to signs on front lawns, but where is the call for gun owners' responsibilities? The reference to well-regulated militias in the Second Amendment shows that responsibilities were implicit in the minds of the Framers. We recognize the indivisibility of rights and responsibilities with our cars -- yes, you may drive, but you must show that you know how, and you must do it safely, unimpaired, and within the laws.

If all gun owners took their responsibilities seriously (as many, to be sure, do), we would not have guns unlocked in homes with mentally disturbed people or in schools or in movie theaters. It is time for gun laws that are both constitutional and capable of breaking the continuing string of tragedies.

Bill Baker

Stamford

More transparency needed on TPP

To the editor,

I call on U.S. congressional representative Jim Himes of Connecticut's Fourth District to come clean on his position on the effort by the Obama administration to gain "fast-track" authority from Congress for the highly secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). He has refused to sign Congresswoman Rosa Delauro's letter to the president demanding more transparency on TPP in return for congressional go-ahead. We thank him for signing weaker Ways and Means Committee letter but need more.

What has been leaked on TPP suggests that, like its predecessor NAFTA, it is essentially an assault on the rule of law at the state and federal levels for the purpose of facilitating profits for multinational corporations. If it is passed without modification, attempts by citizens through their government, at local, state, or federal levels, to mitigate such phenomena as the exportation of jobs and the accelerated degradation of the environment, or to preserve food and drug safety and affordable health care and prescription prices, will be severely compromised. Indeed, sovereign governments and their taxpayers would potentially face lawsuits from multinational companies if localized legislation could be presented to an international trade court as causing a loss of current, or even future, profits for said multinationals.

Himes needs to demand more information on TPP to do his constitutional duty pertaining to treaties and to look out for his constituents. Let him know your concerns and request a clear position on the Baucus/Camp Fast Track Bill at (202) 225-5541. Additionally, I call on state legislators, and the Connecticut Democratic party in particular, to address this development that could profoundly affect our state. For more info on TPP check http://www.flushthetpp.org/.

James Root

Danbury

Seeking support for Meatless Mondays

To the editor,

I am writing to encourage everyone to start a new practice in their lives; one that is very easy, but can have a huge impact -- Meatless Mondays. It's great for the environment and it has many health benefits, including reducing heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Many schools and hospitals across the county have adopted the practice, including PS 244 in Queens, N.Y., which found a drop in the number of students classified as overweight or obese as a result. It's great to start kids out young eating well and teaching them healthy habits to prevent health concerns down the road. Plus, it's never been easier to eat vegetarian fare as it's widely available these days and actually delicious.

I hope you join me in adding Meatless Mondays this year to your menu and to encourage your friends, local schools, and hospitals to do likewise. There is no reason that the schools in Greenwich and Greenwich Hospital couldn't implement a Meatless Monday program. Make it a healthier year for you, for them, and the planet.